


Memory

by Dark Automaton (0Dark_Automaton0)



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Multi, Oneshot, Pre-War, based on multiple theories, flashback through film, gem-camcorders, headcanons ahoy!, more or less, once again Steven watches a recording of a big pink belly-gem, references to death, steven is not gonna take any more of that "Rose Quartz in another form" nonsense, theories on where gems come from
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-07
Updated: 2016-08-07
Packaged: 2018-08-07 06:15:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7703686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/0Dark_Automaton0/pseuds/Dark%20Automaton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steven finds a recording while stuck on a Diamond mothership. Who it's recording was not quite what he thought she would be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Memory

**Author's Note:**

> It is recommended that you listen to this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGbVlq0Fgvk) at the beginning of your reading, or at least when the video starts.

Steven had no idea what the object was for. It looked a bit like the tetrahedron that Peridot used to communicate with Yellow Diamond, but it looked… different. There was a clear triangular lens of sorts on one of the faces, showing no technology that the boy recognized on the inside.

He looked both ways of the empty room of the ship. He had not a clue what this thing was, but he was on a Diamond’s mothership in space right now, so what was there to lose? His logic told him not to mess with the mysterious object and go, but his gut told him it would be all right. If there was one thing Steven trusted, it was his gut.

Twisting the machine so that the two opalescent sides lined up, he let it rise up and out of his hand. The lens glowed, and projected a rectangular screen onto the blank wall. Four diamonds colored white, yellow, blue, and pink showed on the screen, before a shaky upside down video was showing.

“Gah, how do you even hold this?” a vaguely familiar voice said, apparently the camera-user. The boy’s eyes widened, as he whispered,

“Oooooh, this must be like some kind of… Gem camcorder!”

“Hey, hey, White! Lookie here!” a cheerful, unfamiliar voice came from the video, the screen now turning right side up. The picture stabilized, showing a foreign land with red rocky dirt, and a deep purple sky littered with dozens of what looked to be moons or close planets. It showed the inside of a canyon, littered with many, many short exit holes where gems had emerged.

Steven gasped as he saw the woman that the video finally pointed to.

She was, in comparison to the canyon, massive. She was big enough to probably be able to reach the top of the cliff without needing to even go on her tippy-toes. Everything about her was pink; deep pink hair, pale pink skin, bright pink eyes, blush pink dress, and brilliant pink gem located right on her belly. Her hair was short, a bit like Yellow Diamond’s or Lapis’; reaching down to her chin and then curling up at a sharp angle, but without the rather silly pompadour look with a wedge cut out. She was dressed elegantly, with a short dress whose sleeves were longer than the skirt and flared out at the elbows, trailing the ground.

It was her: Pink Diamond. She looked a lot more… happy than what he expected.

The Diamond was smiling brightly, going down to her knees in front of a small crowd of Rubies, no doubt freshly grown. She talked to the one behind the camera,

“I’ve taught them how to draw! See?”

Steven watched in confusion, as the Rubies eagerly jumped onto each other on rows and stacks, each holding up a piece of what looked a lot like paper or plastic that’s been scribbled on. Weren’t Diamonds supposed to be scary and demanding? After zooming out of the individual scribbles, both Steven and apparently the camera-gem gasped as they recognized a very ridiculous makeshift mural of what looked to be Yellow Diamond. It seemed that they had not all been working on the same project the whole time, as her body was on one side of the picture, small, while her head was drawn large and in great angry detail on the far opposite corner. To connect the wayward parts, while using every bit of paper/plastic/material, a long winding neck was drawn between them.

The camera-gem guffawed, and Steven clasped a hand over his mouth to chuckle. Pink Diamond clapped her hands together, grinning mischievously,

“They recognize their leader!”

“You do realize that they’re probably not going to be used for art, right Pink?” the camera-gem said flatly, trying to catch her breath. Heavy footsteps from the video indicated the arrival of another, along with an angry squawk,

“PINK, what is that?!”

He could hear it clearly to be Yellow Diamond, and the camera turned to confirm it. She wore something much simpler than what he saw last; a simple space suit sort of thing, kind of like what Pearl wore when she tried to take him to space the first time. The look on her face was much less “I am going to kill you” and more “What are you doing? I’m going to tell mom!” She was very, very angry, but definitely didn’t look murderous.

She stalked over to the Rubies, “Take that down immediately!”

“Hey, now,” Pink Diamond grabbed her arm, keeping her from touching the much smaller gems, “I was just trying out what they can do. Now we know they’re not artists; easy peasy!”

“That’s not an excuse to mock me, Pink,” Yellow Diamond crossed her arms, looking very… cross. Pink Diamond’s smile didn’t falter, “Oh come on, Blue will get a kick out of this!”

“Oh no!” Yellow Diamond said, blocking Pink Diamond’s way, “You are not embarrassing me any furth-”

“Oh my stars,” a dull voice said offscreen, the video turning to see a very different Blue Diamond. Unlike how Garnet depicted her, her face was in full view, with only some of her hair obscured by the hood she wore. She looked much more like she did in her mural on the moon base, and wore a surprisingly gentle smile. She chuckled lightly, her words dripping with sarcasm,

“Pinkie, I think you’ve gone too far this time. Not a day after they emerged, and they’re already showing signs of insubordination.”

“Oh wreck off,” Pink Diamond waved her off, “I’m just testing them out! I bet once we figure out what they can do, they’ll be helping us for a long time. I’ve even come up with a name for them!”

“Pink, I thought we told you not to name them until after we’ve discussed it,” the camera-holder, evidently White Diamond, groaned. Pink Diamond shrugged,

“It just came to me. Not like it’s a swear word or anything.”

“What did you call them?”

“They’re Rubies!”

A dull silence followed, the aforementioned Rubies fidgeting around in their little display. The silence broke with a cackle, and the camera pointed to, oddly enough, Blue Diamond, “That has got to be the silliest one you’ve come up with thus far!”

“Hey, I stand by it,” Pink Diamond faked a pout and crossed her arms, “It fits! They’re red, small, and there’s lots of them. Why give them something that takes seven tries just to properly pronounce?”

“Hey, it wasn’t my idea to call them ‘Andyrobertsite,’” Blue Diamond said bluntly. White Diamond called to them to settle down, and said,

“We’ve still got some work to do before these ones are ready to enter the workforce. For now, listen. Pink, keep testing them, maybe try to do something more practical?”

“Yes ma’am!”

“And, Yellow, quit being a pebble and go supervise those Quartzes,” White Diamond interrupted Yellow before she could begin complaining, “Now now, what did I say? You’re bigger than them, it can’t be that hard.”

“Ugh, fine.”

“And Blue…” she trailed off, “Uh, make sure Yellow doesn’t smash anybody with her tantrums.”

“Sure.” “I AM _NOT_ A PEBBLE!”

The feed cut off, and the projector fell to the ground. Steven caught it, carefully setting it down where he found it. Yet as he turned, he finally noticed the solemn shadow in the large doorway. The towering gem looked so much older than she did in the video, frown lines made evident by the guilty expression she wore. Steven was shocked by how angry she didn't look, even as she asked, sounding very very _tired_ ,

"Why are you here?"

"Was that Pink Diamond?" he asked back. She didn't answer. The boy wondered why Yellow Diamond hadn't squished him under her boot by now. The Diamond quietly walked over to the projector, taking it in her large hands. Walking over to the empty chair, she set it into the console, making the video play again on silent once more. She pressed a button and it paused, stopping on a frame of Pink Diamond smiling at the camera. Yellow Diamond let out a humorless chuckle,

"You know, if it weren't for her, you probably wouldn't have existed."

"Um," Steven wasn't sure what to say, "why?"

"She's the one who designed you, Rose," Yellow Diamond said almost casually, "She wanted to have a Quartz that was perfect in the way she thought perfection to be. Someone who could fix things instead of just trim the broken parts off. But in the end, you broke her, and look where we are now."

"I'm not Rose Quartz," Steven said firmly, "I'm Steven."

Yellow Diamond craned her neck to look down at the hybrid, "So what's left of your army claims. I don't get it, abandoning what you were made to do. Back then you would be lucky to find something you're good at, and yet you people just throw all that away to do something completely against your nature."

"That's not the point, I really am Steven!" he said, beginning to get frustrated, "Rose was my mom; she made me, but I'm not her! Why does everybody keep saying that I am?"

"You have her gem," Yellow Diamond said matter-of-factly.

"But that's not all of me!"

"So you're a fusion?" she asked, getting confused.

"Kinda, sort of, I guess?" Steven shrugged. He didn't really want to elaborate, because that would mean he'd have to give an ancient gem The Talk, and he was way too young to be doing that! Steven sighed, "I don't want to fight you, and I have a feeling you don't want to fight me either."

"That war cost us many lives," Yellow Diamond said bluntly, "On your side and mine."

"I get that, and Rose regrets that too," Steven conceded, "But you have to understand! We just want to live in peace."

"So did _she_ ," Yellow Diamond pointed to the picture, scowling, "If you are not Rose Quartz, but instead just her 'creation,' than you likely know nothing but what the Crystal Gems and the maybe three other gems told you. You have no idea what happened."

"Then tell me," Steven challenged, "What happened to Pink Diamond?"

**Author's Note:**

> The inspiration behind this came from whilst I was reading some analysis and theories on how Gems came to be. Figuring out how to build a utilitarian society doesn't happen in a day; so I thought "Why not write about that?"


End file.
